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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

Hinata woke up in a sterile white room, she blinked a few times to clear her vision and sat up, heart racing. Where was she?! Seeing the IV drip attached to her arm she tried to recount her last steps.
'Last thing I remember was going to see Sabaku and then..' she blinked again, slower, her head aching.
"There's going to be a painful headache as a side effect from the injections, but apart from that you should live." Said a voice coming from the side of her. Hinata looked up, seeing a nurse, a gentle looking girl with short, brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. "Hi, I'm Matsuri, I've been looking out for you."
"W-why am-am I here?" asked Hinata, still not entirely sure what was happening. Matsuri tilted her head and smiled gently before answering, her voice soft and somewhat child-like, "You fainted, silly. You had nothing in your stomach, no sustenance. Someone brought you in from the desert, carried you the entire way like a princess," she continued with a dreamy tone in her voice, "And he looked pretty handsome too. You're lucky." Matsuri's eyes opened and put a hand over her mouth, seemingly shocked. "Um, I, don't mean that it was a guy, or a girl, or a person. I don't know who it is, I can't tell you, probably not from around here." She looked anxious, eyes darting around, "I'm going to go get your medication that you should take for the next few days while recovering and you can go home.
"W-Wait!" Hinata called out to her before she could leave, "What d-day is it?" she asked tentatively.
"It's Tuesday, you were out for a while." Matsuri said over her shoulder.
Two days! She had missed work, her first day. Now she'll never be able to get a job, or stay in Suna, she might even have to marry in the end. Hinata started crying as soon as the nurse left.

"You're crying, oh no, this is not how I had planned to meet you at all. What can I do?" Said a tall, blonde man with lines on his face that looked exactly like whispers. Hinata's head whipped up and she stared the man straight in the eyes.
"Naruto Uzumaki, at your service." He said with a large grin, right before she fainted.

~~~

This was not in his plans at all. Naruto shook his head as he looked down at the small, fragile looking woman who had once been his betrothed. When one of the villagers had told him that she had been taken to the hospital he had gone there as soon as he could. He had at least hoped to explain his reasons for being there before she ran – or fainted – on him. He felt that little prick of uncertainty run up his spine, once again thinking of the monster inside of him, but again thought against it. This female probably didn't even know him, or know what he is, so he relaxed and fell into the seat beside her. He had hoped to explain things to her, make her feel a little bit of relief, and then leave back to Suna when all of his business was done. He had already been here longer than he thought he would after Gaara had told him that he wasn't actually meant to marry the villager.
Naruto looked at her again, something about her was so familiar, so distinct and yet he couldn't quite put a name to it. Then he remembered! Her eyes! He remembered seeing those eyes before, on other people in his village. The Hyuuga family was well known, but he hadn't connected her name before, thinking it was just a coincidence. He remembered the stir within Konaha when the Hyuuga mother and her daughter left the village, he heard so many rumours but he didn't pay any attention to them. He couldn't remember ever meeting Hinata, he remembered that she had never been allowed out of the compound, always restricted. Now looking at her he realized how horrible that must have been, like a caged bird. She had never been allowed to roam the streets, or play with other kids. He may not have had a wonderful childhood, but at least he had his freedom. The thought of her, trapped, made him angry. The Hyuuga family had never been known for their kindness, but instead of the horrible scarring they had put on the branch members foreheads when they came to age, to remind them of their status and to ensure they never told anyone of the head family's secrets.
He thought of his friend Neji and the large scar upon his forehead. He was a stoic, quiet character. Always abiding by the rules and never caused trouble, never stepped out of line. He wasn't very liked among the Konoha teens until he started seeing a girl called Ten-Ten. She had brought him out and reassured everyone that he wasn't a bad person. Neji seemed to conflict with Ten-Ten's bright, bubbly personality but somehow it worked. Somehow they were the couple that made people happy everytime they saw them. Happy – or incredibly sad.
Naruto sighed again, thinking of Sakura, his pink haired friend. Every time he saw Neji and Ten-Ten he was constantly reminded of what he could never have. Ever since he had let his friend Sasuke leave town, Sakura had always kept parts of herself from him. They were friends, sure, but it had never been the same since he had left.

He saw Hinata stir again, slowly blinking her eyes open. "I'm sorry for startling you. I really meant for this to go better."
She sat up with a start, holding the sheets up to her neck and looked around, he noticed she wouldn't meet her eyes.
"Y-Y-You're m-my b-b-betrothed again. A-Aren't you?" She asked quietly, must run in the family. Again? He thought to himself. He hadn't told her and he couldn't have imagined that word would get to her that quickly, especially since she hadn't been around.
"You mean you knew we weren't gonna be married?" He scratched his head and grinned. "And no, I'm not going to marry you anymore, I got that all sorted out."
She seemed confused by what he said, tilting her head a little to the left and finally meeting his eyes.
"W-What d-do you mean you g-got it sorted? I-I did." She said, more confidently than she looked at the moment, he could still see her hands slightly trembling.
"You did? No, I went to Ga- the Kazekage and made him call it off." She must still be a little out of it, if she thought that she had gotten it sorted out. Naruto knew the councilmembers, and she would have never been able to change their mind.
"N-No I-I went to the k-k-kazekage and asked h-him to c-call it off." She said again. Naruto just stared at her. She seemed a little loopy, it could be the medication. No one would have gone to Gaara, he knew that for certain. Gaara never left his quarters to see anyone except the councilmembers. He just sat there, uncertain of what to say.
"I-It doesn't m-matter anymore. I-I didn't g-go to my j-job and now I'll probably have to ma-m-marry you again!" He heard her sob a little on the end.
"Hey now, it wouldn't be that bad to marry me, would it?" He joked, teasing the poor girl. He hadn't expected her to burst into tears, his pride feeling a little of a blow.
"Hey, hey I didn't mean it, I'm sorry. We're not going to marry, I know that for certain. Calm down, please?"
She sniffled into her bedsheets and wouldn't look up.
"Look, I know the Kazekage, he's a friend of mine, okay? I'll tell him that you got sick and couldn't make it, he'll understand."
This had gotten her attention, she finally wiped her eyes and looked up at him, relief clear in her eyes.
Her quiet voice was a bit shaky when she answered, "R-really?"
After nodding his head and sitting back in the chair again, he watched her divulge the information. Somehow he expected her to be a little more surprised when he said he was friends with Gaara, but apparently she was so shook up she didn't understand.
Suddenly she looked shocked and her hand flew to her mouth, "I-I'm so sorry! I-I hoped I d-didn't of-offend you. I j-just don't want to m-marry anyone." Her eyes started welling with tears again, he could see how bad she felt just bad looking at her, and chuckled.
"It's fine, I kind of expected that to be the case. Glad to know it wasn't just me personally then." He winked at her and watched as her cheeks turned crimson. She was turning out to be quite cute.

~~~
She couldn't believe she had told him she didn't want to marry him! She didn't mean it badly, she just didn't want to marry anyone yet, and especially someone she didn't love. She thought back on what he had said. He was friends with the Kazekage, he wouldn't let her lose the job she had just gotten.
"P-please h-help me get my job back. I-I r-really n-need it."
She watched the bright blonde as he just smiled at her and told her that everything would be okay, he'd make sure of it. She felt so much relief, she hadn't planned to end up here but she was glad that there wouldn't be huge consequences for it. She laid her head back down, her headache back in full force from being so tense.
Naruto must have noticed and took his leave, telling her he'd be back in a couple of hours to take her back to her house. He was so cheerful, she just couldn't imagine him being friends with the stoic – but handsome – kazekage.
Hinata felt the strings of sleep pull at her, and went along with it.

~~~
Gaara paced his office, his hands furiously running through his hair. He couldn't get her sickly form out of his mind, she had been so cold, had looked so gaunt. It haunted him last night, even as he sat next to her bed, her beeping monitor letting him know that she was alive. He had left her when the nurse had assured him that she would live for the fifth time. When he had brought her in, eyes wild, he was glad there had only been a couple of nurses on duty to see him. The nurse attending Hinata – Matsuri – had assured him that no one would know that he had been the one to bring her in. That was a relief, he didn't want the villagers to think that he had somehow hurt the girl, even if he felt he had done that exact thing. Somehow just being near him had caused her harm, he wondered slightly if he had indeed gone on another rampage and blacked out, and causing him to forget, but Matsuri had assured him that she had fainted from lack of sustenance.
Gaara grew angry again, it had only been a couple of days since the councilmembers had told her to marry or else they'd take action, but apparently they had taken action before that. Sending discreet inquiries into why Hinata hadn't had food had been quick after he made his way from the hospital. Apparently all of the shopkeepers had been told to deny Hinata service, even the public bathhouse had been warned against letting the girl use their facilities. This was not the village Gaara imagined, this was exactly like his father's rule, agree with him or else. He wondered why the villagers had been so quick to comply, but he could imagine they didn't have much other choice. He wished he could see Hinata again to assure himself that she was okay but he didn't dare. Instead he continued to pace, and think of what he could do to improve the village.

Naruto opened the door and walked into him pacing the large study floor and raised an eyebrow.
"What do you want?" Gaara growled, almost immediately mad at himself for speaking to his only friend like that, he stopped pacing.
"What's wrong Gaara? Is it the voice again?" Naruto asked calmly, walking slowly towards Gaara and then putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked worried, Gaara felt worse.
"No, I'm sorry. I just have things on my mind."
Naruto seemed placated with that, sitting on the couch again where he had fallen asleep last time. "You know, you could have woken me up last time, I got a really bad crick in my neck, took me forever to stretch it out." Naruto grinned up at him, ever the cheerful blonde that made him feel relaxed. Gaara sat down at the chair behind his desk and tried to smooth his hair down.
"I assumed you needed the rest, I apologize."
"Hmm. I met Hinata Hyuuga today, I'd been waiting for her to show her face for a while now and when I do, guess where she is? In the hospital!" Gaara's ears pricked at the name and he turned to face Naruto, his face ever stoic.
"Ah, and what did she say?"
"She said the strangest things, though she looked relieved to know she wouldn't be marrying me – go figure – she also said that she had asked you to abolish the contract. She really believed it, can you imagine? That stick of a girl coming and asking you." He watched Naruto relax comfortably on his lounge, his hands going behind his head and his ankle crossed on his knee.
Gaara chose his words carefully, not to let Naruto know how much he knew about Hinata Hyuuga.
"She did come here and ask me to abolish the contract. I gave her a job at the tower." As soon as the words left his mouth he watched as Naruto slowly uncrossed his legs and stared at him, searching his face for any sight of humour.
"You're not kidding, are you?"
"I never kid." And it was true. Gaara didn't find many things humorous and didn't ever try to deny it.
"So you mean this girl, Hinata, came into the tower, to see you, came up to you and actually asked you to stop the marriage?" At Gaara's nod, Naruto's face brightened. "Gaara that's great! She's not scared of you? This is exactly what you need."
"She doesn't know about me. Once she hears of the monster I am she'll run away." Gaara felt better telling his friend what had been on his mind the past couple of days. He isn't usually one for sharing what he was thinking, but he needed someone's opinion, and who better than his friend.
Naruto looked at him and ran his hand through his hair. "Look, Gaara, I don't know how she's gonna react, because everyone's different. But she's not just a normal girl, and she seems nice. Maybe she will realize that you're not that person anymore?"
"What did you mean when you said she's not a normal girl? What is wrong with her?" She looked like a perfectly normal girl to him. In every way. He blinked away the strange thought and focused on his friend, who was suddenly not meeting his eyes.
"That girl is from Konoha, she's from the Hyuuga clan and I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be heiress. Nearly a year ago her mother and her disappeared, said to have run away from the clan. The weird thing was, there were no search parties, no one looked for them. They didn't go very far and yet no one came for them, it's strange."
Gaara mulled it over in his head, thinking of the Hyuuga clan. He had thought she was part of their clan because of her eyes, but he didn't know why she had come here either. He didn't know much about the Hyuuga's, apart from their influence in Konoha, so he had never tried to get on their bad side after he had reformed.
"What do you know about the Hyuuga's?"
"Not much," Naruto said honestly, breathing out a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair, "But it's not pretty. There are two children in the head family, Hinata and her younger sister, Hanabi I think her name was. I can't ever remember seeing them out of the compound, only hearing rumours. I know their cousin, a Neji Hyuuga, he and I are quite close. They scar anyone in the clan that isn't in the main house as a promise never to tell any Hyuuga secrets. I'm pretty sure Hinata was never let out, or if she was, no one ever saw her. Rumour has it that something happened and they were secretly led out of the compound, but nothing ever happened with it. Whatever happened, I don't think it was good.
Gaara felt anger again for the small Hyuuga. He wished he knew exactly why she left but the only way to find out was to ask her and he couldn't do that.

What had happened to her?